‘The Crossroads between Time & Eternity’ © Jane Palm-Gold/DACS
I have been selecting accompanying text to juxtapose the paintings upon the wall: so selected narratives from Mr. Hogarth and others, including Henry Fielding writing in 1751 and Thomas Beames who wrote marvellously about the Church Lane Rookery in 1852. I am using his writings for two works, alongside ‘Night in St. Giles’ and the ‘Crossroads Between Time & Eternity’. The latter is a narrative painting of an incident two years ago, one cold November morning. A man had overdosed and died at the back of St. Giles church and my neighbour, Steve, took a photo of two policeman over the guy who was probably in his twenties. Apparently the police had found another person just in time at the front of the church. A very sad site which, although rare around here, has happened at least 6 times in the last 10 years… Just another incident in the daily life of St. Giles really:
‘…there were several cases where, because the disorder was sudden , or they had no connections, or perhaps from fear, those stricken were left to die alone, untended, unheeded, “they made no sign”, without mentioning their relatives, without a word which betokened religious feeling on their lips…poor hapless outcasts, acclimatised long to the atmosphere they breathed…’
Thomas Beames, ‘The Rookeries of London’, 1852.